bush, and george w. bush administrations, first as special assistant to the president and deputy to the chief of staff and in the white house, as assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs. his many diplomatic posts have included ambassador to the united nations if geneva, assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, and, most recently, as president george w. bush's special envoy to the sudan. he is also a long time member, and i think now, vice chairman, of the board of directors of the international republican institute. so we are very glad to welcome both rich and michelle to this podium. brookings prides itself on being a nonpartisan think tank and it's in that context that we are hosting this event today. our moderator is guest scholar at brookings and former chief diplomatic correspondent for cbs and then nbc news, former anchor of the nbc "meet the press" program, and also, most recently, of -- >> legacy. >> "the legacy, marvin kalb, it's my pleasure to hand t